BBQ

Zac's birthday grill finally arrived! We had grilled hotdogs for lunch and I'm pretty sure we'll either have steaks or burgers tomorrow. He's so happy. I felt like I was watching the kids open Christmas gifts as he put it together. He's already been online looking for things to make.

Beggars

The weather was gorgeous today. It felt like September, not too hot and pleasantly breezy. The leaves are incredible. I've been spending a lot of time outside, just to look at leaves. I might get the kids and take a walk tomorrow, pending Mr. Fussypants' mood.

This week, I've been getting ALL THREE kids in the bed AT THE SAME TIME. It's truly a wonderful feeling to know the house will be quiet enough for me to relax, have a nice tall glass of wine milk and crochet or practice chords for a little while without interruption and background chaos.

Family

My elder sister, Meredith and her family came to visit earlier this week. Her kids are so sweet and well-mannered. It's a shame we don't live closer to each other so our kids can play together. Wes and Jac spent most of their time together playing Minecraft while Leah and Molly watched movies and painted their fingernails. I'm hoping they come back for Christmas unless we take a trip to Texas with Mom to see them instead.

Molly and Jac 2006

Molly and Jac 2015

Meredith cooked some "party foods" for us since Zac and I don't celebrate Thanksgiving. Party food mostly consists of dips, chips, pigs in a blanket, fruit and vegetable trays, and sandwiches. Finger foods, in other words.

Meredith found some old photo albums that were in Mom's closet, so I took a picture of a few... Yours truly, back in the day. I see a lot of Jac and Elias in my baby pictures. It's almost eerie.

All of us went to Carlton's house for dessert. Rachel picked up brownies and pies from the grocery store. It's not often all my siblings are together.

Turkey

I've never actually celebrated Thanksgiving. I've written about the day throughout the blog, but don't really make it a big deal. Many will argue that Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful for everything they have, yet they rush out the door a day later to grab everything they don't. It's a hypocritical holiday. I don't shop on Black Friday, either. After working in retail, I've come to abhor the annual sale. I wonder if it will one day be called Thingsgiving? Hmm.

My parents don't understand my views. I grew up with the tradition of stressed-out cooking, enduring arguments between adults, and having to dress up in clothes I couldn't get dirty. The whole ordeal just didn't make sense nor seem worth the effort.

This year, Zac had to work longer hours because of aforementioned sale, so there's a chance we won't be going out of town to see friends and his family until Christmas time. We usually make the trip because it's a time of year when his aunts from out of town are local and the kids can play with their cousins. We did, however, go to Carlton's house to have pizza.

While I don't bring up my kids with Thanksgiving traditions, we do take time to be thankful for what we have.

Swing-Dancing

The swingset finally arrived! I wasn't much help. Zac and Dad did most of the work. I just sorted the parts needed according to the steps per page in the instruction manual. Three days were spent building the swingset and it has been completed. The weather is chilly. Winter (or ostensible "winter" as I'm in the south) is approaching so all the sweaters have been pulled out of the storage boxes. I catch the scent of Fireplace when I'm outside and it makes me happy.

The kids played outside and tested out their new playground equipment. Jac got hurt, which is something I was kind of expecting. Not necessarily for him, but let's face it, my kids are a wee bit clumsy. According to Leah, Jac was swinging too high and flipped backward out of his swing. He hit his head and the swing dragged him a few inches along the grass. He's got a raw spot and some scratches on his back, but he's alright. The poor kid has had a rough week. The other day, he was throwing up what looked like Fruit Loops pieces (TMI, sorry) since he doesn't "have time" to chew his food... You know, since nine-year-olds have such a busy schedule so chewing is a step in life that can be skipped. The swing injury was just the icing on his bad-day cupcake. There's nothing quite like being in the middle of breastfeeding when your eldest comes running to the door screaming "ow!" over and over. The first thought in my mind was, "Another broken bone". I had to practically toss Elias to Dad to get the door open while trying to conceal my boob and deal with milk flying all over the place. I doctored Jac up, bandaged his wounds, finished feeding the baby, then had to practically pry Leah off the swings before the mosquitoes came out. The best part is I'm hearing a lot more, "Mom, can I go outside?" instead of, "Mom, can I play Minecraft?"

Elias Three Months

Elias' little face is getting so chubby. He's the sweetest snuggler. He doesn't cry as much as he did a month ago, but it's still loud around here.

3 months

Newborn

32

My big kids woke me up with homemade cards while my little one woke me up with some lovely warm puddles of pee and spit-up. I managed to take a long shower, uninterrupted, and even detangled my hair (which I've cut about 6 inches off of). My day was ordinary, as it's been for the past 11 years. Once you get to 21, there isn't much else to celebrate. I pushed the kids through their lessons, changed 100 diapers, changed my clothes a few times (so much cheesy spit-up OMG), crocheted a bit on Francesca's gift, washed a load of laundry, and visited with Emily. 

Halloween 2015

Happy (late) Halloween! It's a bit late, but I'm finally able to sit down for a while. I woke up this morning in a nice warm puddle of pee so it's been a fun day.

I've had this post saved since the 30th, but every time I sat to write something or post a picture, [insert every possible interruption] happens. The holiday was fun. We went Trick-or-Treating a day early since the 31st had a 100% chance of rain. 

My crocheted Trick or Treat bags gained a few compliments from random passerby. They were started last week and finished just in time, much to the trauma of my joints. The bags are one of a few crochet projects I'm currently working on that I hope to finish before Christmas. Unfortunately, I've got early symptoms of arthritis, so crocheting is a painful little hobby and projects take much longer to complete.

I spent Halloween Day cooking and baking with Zac for our Octoberfeast, which turned out to be amazing. There's nothing quite like filling a kitchen with scents of autumn on a rainy day.

We painted pumpkins instead of carving them this year. I believe it will be a new tradition because there is less mess to clean up and I love seeing the kids get creative.

Almonds

Leah has been developing an interesting personality. She says funny things, knows big words (occasionally, constricting, livid), and has started telling stories she thinks up. I was cleaning the kitchen this morning and she told me she was "famished." I gave her a bag of almonds and told her to eat a few, but not too many, because they can cause tummy aches. She dumped the whole bag onto the table and started sorting them into piles. After a few minutes, I walk over to see what she's up to and she's making a design.

"I'm making you out of almonds because your nose is shaped like an almond. But, you don't have any arms! Just buttons..." She then eats my nose.